Marti Townsend is the staff attorney for KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance and a plaintiff in the ongoing contested case against the State of Hawaiʻi Board of Land and Natural Resources’ preliminary approval of the University of Hawaiʻi’s conservation district use application for a Thirty-Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.

Lea Hong is the Hawaiian Islands Program Director of the Trust for Public Land (TPL). Prior to joining TPL, she worked pro bono on a case in 2006 contesting the issuance of a conservation district use permit for the University of Hawaii Institute of Astronomy’s construction of six 1.8 meter Outrigger Telescopes on Mauna Kea. The state case resulted in an order requiring a comprehensive management plan for Mauna Kea. Lea Hong also worked on a case concerning NASA’s NEPA compliance. The federal case resulted in a finding that NASA’s Environmental Assessment was inadequate and an order that NASA complete an Environmental Impact Statement.

Lehua Ka‘uhane is a third-year law student at the William S. Richardson School of Law and worked with Cultural Surveys Hawai’i on the preparation of the Cultural Impact Assessment for the TMT Project. Lehua has also worked at the Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division, externed with the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a member of the National Environmental Moot Court Team.

Bianca Isaki is co-director of the Environmental Law Society, and previously earned a PhD in Political Science. Bianca interned with KAHEA this past summer, focusing on the Mauna Kea Thirty-Meter Telescope project.

The event was well attended by members of the law school and other University of Hawaiʻi disciplines. The panel presentations were impressive and informative. Attendees participated as well by asking questions and keeping the discussion going.